Those who were underpaid were
people who retired after the age of 65, and those who were
overpaid were people who retired before the age of 65.

Those
who were overpaid originally were told they must choose between writing
a check for the total amount they owe or having their monthly pension
benefit reduced to correct the error and make up for the over-payments.

Those who were underpaid were told they could choose a lump sum or could have
their monthly retirement benefit increased until the underpayment is
repaid.

The error was discovered “when
McLaren Bay Region began to consolidate its pension programs into the
corporation’s pension programs,” Kurt Miller, then-director of marketing and
public relations for McLaren Bay Region, previously told The Bay City Times.

A news release issued at the time stated, “McLaren Bay Region will file a proposed amendment with the IRS which,
if accepted, would correct the overpayment error. No one will be asked
to repay any overpayments while this new option is being evaluated by
the IRS, which could take 12 to 18 months. This will not affect any
underpaid adjustments.”

Samyn said the IRS accepted the proposed amendment and the McLaren Bay Region Board of Directors in November unanimously approved it.

A letter sent last week to those retirees impacted by the miscalculation, and obtained by The Times, says the action taken by the board has no impact on those who were neither overpaid nor underpaid.

The letter does contain one number slightly different from that listed in McLaren's news release from earlier this year — that of the total in underpayments.

"The action by the board revises the Plan so that the overpayments totaling approximately $832,000 and the underpayments totaling approximately $1,200,000 were made in accordance with the Plan," the letter reads. "We are pleased that the IRS agreed with and approved our proposed Pension Plan Amendment and that the Board promptly approved the decision by the IRS."

— Heather Jordan covers business for MLive/The Saginaw News/Bay City Times. She can be reached at 989-450-2652 or hjordan@mlive.com. For more business news, follow her on Twitter and Facebook.